Plum baseball rebounds after dropping series to Mars

By: Michael Love
Saturday, April 23, 2022 | 9:01 AM

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The Plum and Mars baseball teams set the standard for close and competitive games the past two seasons.

That was evident when the Section 2-5A rivals met April 12 and 13.

The Mustangs swept the Planets last year — both games ending in one-run results — and Mars returned the favor this time around by capturing the first game at Mars, 6-5, before taking Game 2 at Plum, 3-2.

“They were heartbreaking losses,” said veteran Plum coach Carl Vollmer, who saw his team hold a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning of Game 1 and a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning of Game 2 before Mars rallied.

“We were definitely competitive in both games and really felt the outcomes could’ve been different. Last year, we were able to make a play in each of the games to win them. This time, we weren’t able to make those one or two plays that would’ve made the difference. Those are games in a season we can learn and grow from and understand how important every pitch is, every at-bat is and every play is. It’s tough to have to learn from losses, and they definitely stung, but we are using those to, hopefully, fuel us the rest of the way.”

Plum stood at 5-3 overall and 3-2 in Section 2 after an 11-0 victory at Woodland Hills on April 20. It was part of a bounce-back effort from the Mars series, as the Mustangs added a 12-5 nonsection win against Steel Valley on April 14.

Vollmer knows how important every game in the section will be as the Mustangs hope to keep pace.

Plum, the defending Section 2 champ, kicked off the season late last month with a section series sweep of Armstrong, winning by scores of 9-1 and 8-1.

Through section play April 20, Hampton stood alone at the top of the section standings at 6-0, and Mars was second at 5-1. Fox Chapel checked in at 5-3.

Plum was scheduled to take on Woodland Hills at home in Game 2 of their series Thursday before matching up with Penn Hills for two games April 25 and 26.

Vollmer knows his team has a lot to play for in the section down the stretch as it faces Hampton on May 2 and 3 and Fox Chapel on May 9 and 10.

Nonsection games with Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional and Central Catholic also remain in the regular season.

“The remainder of the schedule definitely will test our mental toughness and will show how strong we are as a group,” Vollmer said.

“We need to be keyed in and playing well together. A lot of what we are trying to get the players to do is go out and compete and be prepared for every pitch and situation. We sometimes get so consumed with mechanics and with technical skills.”

Through eight games, Plum owned a .324 team batting average. The lineup produced a season-best 15 hits in the second win over Armstrong and added a 12-hit attack against Steel Valley.

In that same stretch, Mustangs pitchers came together to compile a 2.64 ERA.

Junior Logan Kemmerer led Plum in batting with a .526 average (10 of 19) through eight games with six runs scored.

Senior Silvio Ionadi, who went 2 for 3 with a triple and two runs scored in the 6-5 setback to Mars, batted .435 (10 for 23) over those same eight games with a team-best eight runs scored. He also owned four RBIs and the team’s lone home run, a solo shot in the season-opening triumph over Armstrong.

Senior Colin Solinski and junior Nick Lamia fronted the team with eight and seven RBIs, respectively.

The Mustangs down the stretch also will continue to lean on a pitching staff that saw four hurlers earn at least one victory through eight games.

Senior Justin Giarusso won his second game of the season in the opener against Woodland Hills as he struck out eight and walked two while scattering four hits in the shutout.

The Wolverines hoped to gain some momentum against Giarusso and the Mustangs early in that contest and loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first. But Giarusso struck out the next three batters to get out of the jam.

The Plum offense then staked Giarusso to a 5-0 lead with four runs in the top of the second.

Junior Caden Norcutt went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, junior Carson Svidron plated three runs and Solinski and Josh Tedrick tallied a pair of RBIs each.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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